Movie Insider

Subscribe to The Dispatch

Already a subscriber?
Enroll in EZPay and get a free gift!
Enroll now.

Monday April 30, 2012 6:45 AM

Whether a fan or foe of casino gambling, every Columbus resident should be dismayed that the
theme of our future betting parlor is as trite as they come:

Hollywood Casino Columbus.

Puh-lease.

Thanks a bunch, Penn National Gaming, for foisting such a mundane moniker on a community that
routinely commissions studies indicating that our No. 1 problem is a lack of identity to
outsiders.

Odds are that this casino won’t get the chip off our shoulder.

The Hollywood theme smacks of a small-time burg with nothing better to offer, pathetically
forced to hitch a ride with the stars.

Or worse: pictures of stars.

Penn National has plunked a bunch of bogus Tinseltowns — sans celebrities — in places such as
Bay St. Louis, Miss.; Joliet, Ill.; and Perryville, Md.

What, no Hollywood casino in Mayberry or Petticoat Junction?

Detroit has three casinos, including two with names and themes tied to the community: Greektown
and Motor City. The third is an MGM Grand property, which isn’t unique to Detroit but at least is
iconic in betting and entertainment.

Why not inject a little local flavor into our den of iniquity?

If Las Vegas has Caesars Palace, we could host Brutus’ Buttress.

Even better, as the seat of state government and the occasional political scandal, Columbus
should merit a Coingate Casino or a Gerrymander Mirage.

Even local government could get into the act: Why not let the solid-waste authority sponsor the
craps tables?

For a corporate tie-in, Big Slots or Graft & Body Works seems ideal.

Instead, we’re stuck with Hollywood — which could easily be mistaken for a video-rental
store.

Hasn’t Columbus already suffered through a Planet Hollywood theme at Easton Town Center?

How did that work out?

One badge of honor: Columbus will become the largest U.S. city with a Hollywood Casino.

Not even Hollywood, Calif., can say that.

At the casino opening later this year, Dispatch Reporter Jeffrey Sheban hopes to get the
autograph of the casino manager or someone even more famous.